At a Dayton/Cincinnati-area church, efforts are afoot to rebuild a 62-foot idol of Jesus at Solid Rock Church in Monroe.

For years, the steel, styrofoam, and fiberglass structure — situated along Interstate 75 — drew the stares of gawking motorists. It also drew tourists and churchgoers from Kentucky and Tennessee who apparently didn’t have enough kitsch to admire back in their own communities. The idol drew money from visitors’ tithes, and those tithes were spent on an ex-gay ministry that was co-founded by current PFOX president Greg Quinlan, who used this and other Ohio ministries to launch his national culture war against gay youth, marriage equality, and family unity.

After the statue was destroyed by lightning last week, a few protesters pointed out to the church that it was worshiping a graven image in violation of the commandments of Moses. A churchgoer allegedly responded by shoving and threatening one of the protesters, and charges were filed.

Church leaders nevertheless vowed to rebuild. Southwest Ohio lies at the eastern border of America’s Tornado Alley, and it is commonplace for random bolts of lightning to destroy tall, highly flammable objects. Yet a supportive neighbor, Pastor Deborah Hooks, blamed the incident on magic sent by God: “We don’t know the mind of God, but I say God’ hand is in everything and everything happens for a reason.”

The pastor of Solid Rock, Lawrence Bishop, is seemingly suffering from even greater egomania, characterizing the statue as a resurrected god. “The first Jesus was resurrected in three days. It’s going to take us a little longer than three days but he will be back. He’s like the Terminator. He’s coming back.”

Gannett News reported today that a flood of donations and ample insurance money may allow the statue to be fully rebuilt by the end of the year.

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12 Comments

Also, if this is “just like the resurrection,” are they conceding that there were many man hours involved in getting people to believe that something as ludicrous as a bodily resurrection had occurred?

“The first Jesus was resurrected in three days. It’ going to take us a little longer than three days but he will be back.

If there really is an omnipotent god, he could have made ‘Touchdown Jesus’ resurrect in three days. Really, he could have. Why would a god waste such a golden opportunity? Imagine the pilgrimages by people from all over the world converging there to offer their vigorous praises and glorification to an insecure and needy god with an insatiable ego. Would a real god require incessant adulation from little humans here on earth?

Ben in OaklandJune 20, 2010 at 12:23 pm -

So how many people in Darfur iwll starve while they are rebuilding their biblically condemned idol?

“If there really is an omnipotent god, he could have made “Touchdown Jesus’ resurrect in three days. Really, he could have.”

Yes, and he would have also scored a two point conversion.

DanielJune 20, 2010 at 2:28 pm -

Maybe this time they could just build it out of matchsticks.

DanielJune 20, 2010 at 2:28 pm -

But I’m all in favor of these people giving all their money to this sort of idiotic, but fairly harmless cause.

Michael AirhartJune 20, 2010 at 4:11 pm -

But Daniel, the church is a large and profitable business, and it is operating tax-free at a time when southwest Ohio’s local government services (especially schools) are comatose.

So long as this for-profit enterprise is cheating taxpayers while laundering money in God’s name, I don’t consider it harmless.

DanielJune 20, 2010 at 6:42 pm -

Even in a non-profit if people donate for a specific purpose the money can’t be used for anything else. I would rather they donate money to the touch-down Jesus than to conversion therapy programs or outreach to Africa.

StephenDJune 20, 2010 at 10:05 pm -

Somtimes, a bolt of lightening is just a bolt of lightening. The pastor is obviously grateful for some free advertising promoting his hate-mongering ministry….what a joke.

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